Electric igniters are used in various kinds of ammunition where an electric source of power is relied upon to achieve an initiating action of some kind. For example, an electric igniter may be included in an electric initiating system for initiating a bursting charge in a projectile, in which an electrically charged capacitor is connected to the electric igniter by an impact contact or a similar activation means.
In modern ammunition, it is essential that the various operational processes of the device take place exactly according to a predetermined and desired pattern so that the desired results may be achieved. As far as an electric igniter is concerned, this means that the initiating effect should be complete within a predetermined time, which sometimes is only a few microseconds.
In order to achieve very rapid initiation, prior art devices have included the so-called conducting composition igniter, in which the electrically conducting element in principle consists of graphite powder or the like mixed into the contacting pyrotechnical composition. The variation in sensitivity of conducting composition igniters in such that certain igniters can have such a high sensitivity that the risk for accidental ignition is a major problem. If the electrically conducting element instead is made in the form of a metal wire, in order to obtain the rapidity required it is necessary to use very thin wires having dimensions of 5.times.10.sup.-6 m or thinner. Such thin wires introduce considerable manufacturing problems and are vulnerable to mechanical damage.